Trump starts his first debate with Biden by a sharp brawl
By Marwa Mahmoud
NEW YORK – It was more like a brawl than a debate. President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden were challenged in a series of tense cross-talks and coups.
Both of them tried to discredit the other’s personality and fitness to lead.
They both denounced the intellect of their opponent, with Trump repeatedly criticizing Biden as a pawn in the hands of the radical left, who he believed was attempting to win the election.
Biden called the president a “clown,” “racist,” and “a liar.”
“I’m not here to call out his lies. Everybody knows he’s a liar,” he said.
The clashes marked a new low in American presidential debates: never, in recent memory, have so many personal insults been exchanged between two candidates on national television.
Biden called Trump “the worst president America has ever had,” and he repeatedly told the president to “just shut up, man.”
Biden claimed that more people would die from the coronavirus pandemic unless Trump got “a lot smarter.”
Mocking Biden’s college class rank, Trump said: “Did you use the word ‘smart’? Don’t ever use the word ‘smart’ with me.”
The debate took place at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. With five weeks to go until the election, there were heated clashes over Trump’s handling of the pandemic, the Supreme Court nomination, the future of the nation’s health care, and the integrity of the election.
Biden blamed the US COVID-19 death toll on Trump. He looked into the camera and asked: “How many of you got up this morning and had an empty chair at the table because someone died of COVID-19?”
Biden accused Trump of stoking racial divisions.
“He’s just a racist. This is a president who has used everything as a dog whistle to try to generate racial hatred, racial division.”
Trump went after the former vice-president’s son Hunter Biden and accused him of profiting in China while his father was vice-president.
“China ate your lunch, Joe. And no wonder your son goes there and takes out billions of dollars.”
He also accused Hunter Biden of receiving more than $3 million from a Russian billionaire.
